TimeLine Notebook

The Art of Cataloging - Science in Infancy

Today
we think of science as an endeavor of asking questions and seeking
answers through the use of modern scientific tools — technology
has helped to reveal so much!

Yet long ago,
the infancy of science was characterized
in many ways by human observations that were compiled in catalog
form. Science was nothing more than list making. Books of drawings
and lists of species comprised much of the knowledge base gathered
early on. New knowledge seemed only to build on this trend and the
catalogs of encyclopedic compilations only added the newer volume
onto the previous volume. Extending the listings was the only form
of advancement in science — which is to say there was not much to
advancing 'knowledge.'

Here again
is one more place to look for a transition
in the nature of science as you view the time line.

Initially
there were efforts to create lists and catalog life forms, for example,
without the kind of investigative questioning we expect of scientists
today. Centuries later, the ingenuity of the human mind lead to developing
tools to reveal the inner workings of biology and outwardly to observe
the finer stellar relationships in the cosmos. Black boxes were being
opened to illustrate how the material aspect of the universe worked.
Science went beyond naming and charting stars to explaining how they
form. We went from the outside identification of plants and animals
to understanding organs, tissues, and even the presence of cells
— and years later even further than this.

As you move
further along the time line, we also ask that you question how science
is used to not only benefit humanity with conveniences and knowledge
in the material realm, but also ask if our understanding of our existence
is served at all well by[ recent] science. This is not to put a negative
spin on what science has brought us. What we are suggesting is that
limiting the view to science alone — thinking of advancements from
the infancy to highly technical stages — blinds us to other components
that are equally important parts of the WindowView. Philosophy, theism,
etc., tell us something important about being, too. So, let's get
past list making, keep science in perspective, resolve the benefits
gained there, but then expand the view further — this is what we
encourage you to do from this point onward!

Web (Internet): Occasionally
we find what appear as reliable, but formally unpublished, sources on the Internet. As such these entries remain to be fully confirmed. In many cases this information is found to agree with the remainder of the timeline and the published sources used here.

For a general listing of books, visit the WindowView Book Page for: Science and Scripture .

Step Up To Life

Time spent looking ... through a window on life and choice ... brings the opportunity to see in a new light. The offer for you to Step Up To Life is presented on many of the web pages at WindowView. Without further explanation we offer you the steps here ... knowing that depending on what you have seen or may yet explore in the window ... these steps will be the most important of your life ...